Christian Ntaganda
Christian Ntaganda is 19 years old, but due to the genocide and the poverty of his surviving family members, Christian has not finished high school. Rebecca Davis met Christian on her first trip to Rwanda, back in 2008. Since then, RDDC has seen this young man struggle to find a way to use his talent for hip hop dancing to fund the basic necessities of life: food, shelter, clothing and education.
Christian is the fourth of seven siblings, all of whom are boys except one. He has suffered from malaria and malnutrition for most of his life – although you would never guess that when you watch him dance.
This young man is exactly the type of student that RDDC hopes will have a chance to advance his own life if he becomes educated. By putting a child in school, he has a safe place to live and is getting food each day. Giving him an education is the best long-term solution of getting him out of the Rwandan slums.
Rebecca asked Christian if he wanted to go to boarding school in 2009: “Of course, but it’s impossible to afford the school fees,” was his immediate response. Rebecca and a Dutch volunteer, Celesta Duivenvoorde, agreed to uses their own resources to help raise the money to put Christian in school and give him a place where he could start to stabilize his health and his life. Christian officially started school in February 2010.
Now, Christian is within reach of finishing high school and has become an assistant dance teacher for the younger boys studying dance at FidesCo in Kigali.
Video Clips:
Christian & Kids of Unity performing hip hop:
December 30, 2009 – Kigali, Rwanda
Read more about Christian at Broad Street Review.
moving story indeed! we love you christian!
and murakoze cyane. Kenneth, for making this possible!
God can move pipo from grass to grace n there u are christian u shud be thnkfull to God n let Him always be ur God